Oops
by KIxia
Summary: I know its a bad title just couldn't think of anything. A glass prison has gone missing. What will happen now? Can everyone be saved or willjumping to conclusions ruin their only hope in fighting against the blood magicians?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I just couldn't believe this was happening. The Sitian council had Valek locked in the Keep's cells and were going to hang him on Saturday. I managed to contact Yelena, using one of the new type of glass messenger. However she was 5 days ride away and would never be here in time and she couldn't do much from where she was. She may have a glass messenger but it wouldn't do any good if no-one in the council was prepared to listen. Apparently Janco and Ari (Valek's seconds) were still in Fulgor but that was still four days away and it was Wednesday now.

This left me in a very difficult position. I couldn't do much to change the minds of the council members but Yelena would kill me if they actually went through with it. Also there was Mara to consider. She wouldn't be happy if I was defending Valek given the fact that everyone is accusing him of killing Opal. It doesn't help matters that Valek himself appears to believe it is true but says he doesn't understand what happened.

"Leif," said Mara putting her hand on my shoulder. I jumped. I had been so distracted by my thoughts that I hadn't even noticed her come in.

"Sorry, I was miles away. Did you want something?" I asked.

"No, not really. I just don't know what to do with myself," she replied. I could see she had been crying again.

"Have you heard from Devlin and the kids yet," I asked gently.

"No, my parents should be arriving tomorrow but none of us have heard from Devlin yet. It is like they have completely vanished. No-one has seen them for days and the house is empty. Everyone thought they must be coming here to tell us the news in person but if they were they should have arrived by now." This was another mystery which needed solving. Where had they got to?

"It is all very strange. I don't know where they could have gone," I said.

"I don't understand why they would go anywhere else. If it wasn't for those glass messengers we wouldn't even know what happened."

"We still don't know exactly what happened," I said quietly.

"I do, that man killed my sister. That is all I need to know," she said angrily.

"But he doesn't seem to know how it happened and he certainly wouldn't have meant it to happen. Also no-one has found Opal's body. You can't think that Devlin has it with him, wherever he is."

"He admitted it and even Janco thinks he did it."

"Valek's family he wouldn't hurt any of us."

"He killed my sister. Everyone is saying so. I won't have his name mentioned in my house. As far as I am concerned he is a murderer and deserves everything that is coming to him," she argued bitterly.

I could see she was getting very angry and upset so decided to change the subject. Mara was never going to be able to understand my position. I was stuck in the middle. Both Yelena and Mara expected me to take their side. I found it difficult to believe that Valek would kill Opal but all the evidence was against him.

It would probably be a lot easier if Valek hadn't said that he had killed Opal but there was already witnesses saying they saw Devlin throwing him out the house and yelling abuse at him. There were apparently also stories from the kids saying that Valek had argued and got into some kind of fight with Opal earlier on in the day. Added to all this you had Valek's reputation so very few people would have been willing to believe him anyway. I just wish that Devlin would turn up because he was the only witness to the actual event.

No-one appears to have given any thought to how all this will affect Sitia's relationship with Ixia. The Commander has been trying to contact the Sitian council but they are refusing to make any kind of deal. In my opinion they have been trying to get Valek for years and now they finally have him confessing to a crime nothing and no-one will be able to persuade them to let him go. It seems the only thing that could stop him being hung on Saturday was Opal herself turning up and saying everything was a big mistake. However that appeared to be extremely unlikely to happen.

**New story – Lets see if this one gets any more reviews than the others. Have put 2 chapters up to start you off. Let me know what you think.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I had to leave the house for a while. Mara's parents had arrived and were very emotional. It was understandable considering they believed they had lost another daughter but some of the things they said about Valek made be quite angry. I wasn't worried about leaving Mara for a while. Her parents would probably do a better job at comforting her than I had been doing. I said I needed some air and slipped out the back door.

I decided that I would go and see Valek. Maybe he would be talking sense today and I would find out what actually happened. All anyone had got out of him so far was he didn't know how it had happened and didn't mean for it to happen. Well anyone can see that just my looking at him.

When I reached the door to the cells I was told by one of the guards that I could only have five minutes. I knew this already. They said that every time I have been. Apparently it was for security, just in case I was an Ixian in disguise or tried to break him out. I didn't think it would make much difference anyway. It would take far less than five minutes for one of his corps to break him out. He could probably do it on his own if someone slipped him some lock picks. That is if he put some effort into trying to get out. All he had done so far was sit looking at the wall, lost in his own thoughts. I think that is what scared people most he wasn't actually doing anything so they think he must be planning something big.

I went through the door and down the steps. I saw he was sitting looking at the wall again. "Valek," I said.

He looked up. When he saw me he immediately brightened up. "Is Yelena her?" he asked eagerly.

"No, I told you before. She won't be here by Saturday, which is why you need to tell me something that will delay things a bit," I explained getting frustrated. He always asked that when I arrived but never seemed to listen to the answer. He had already gone back to staring at the wall. It doesn't look like I am going to get anything out of him. Again!

"I didn't mean for it to happen," he said not taking his eyes off the wall.

"I know that, what did happen?" I asked.

"When is Yelena coming?" he responded.

I sighed. He just wasn't going to talk about it. Looking at him I thought he just looks broken. How can this be fixed without any help from him. "Yelena is on her way," I replied.

He turned around smiling. "Why didn't you say so? When does she get here?" he asked.

"I told you, she can't get here till Sunday at the earliest. By then it will be too late"

"Oh, she is not coming."

"She is. She just can't get here in time. Which is why you have to find a way to delay proceedings," I said. This is ridiculous. I have said the same thing every flipping time and it doesn't make any difference. Arguing with someone so stubborn is just pointless. I ended up turning and leaving.

I had just contacted Yelena. She said that she hadn't slept for two days because she had been riding through the night trying to get here. However she was still around seven or eight hours away and the council are refusing even to postpone it until she gets here. It is now Saturday and Yelena is so close. There will be no comforting her if she arrives too late and I fear no stopping her from going after the council members who ordered this to happen.

I headed for the cells, where they already had Valek in the manacles and were preparing to lead him outside. He saw me coming and asked "Is Yelena here."

This is going to be really difficult to answer. "No, she tried but is still a few hours away." I saw the disappointment on his face. "You need to stop this anyway you can think of," I whispered.

"Nothing I can do. I can't bring someone back from the dead."

The guards pushed me out the way and started walking him outside. "This is stupid. You can't do this. Think of the consequences." I yelled.

"We aren't happy about it either but we have our orders," said one of the guards. Whatever, the only thing there concerned about is there might be a last minute rescue. Then they would really have problems.

They moved quickly outside. I could see they wanted this over as soon as possible. Surely if a rescue was going to be attempted now would be the time to do it. I looked into the crowd. It was huge. It looks like just about everyone had come out to see the show but there was no-one I recognised who might be there to prevent it. However I was glad to see that Mara and her family weren't there. They must have decided to stay at our house.

Everyone watched in silence as he was put into the noose. I was horrified. I don't think I can watch this. The guards stepped back. The lever was pulled and he dropped. I shut my eyes tightly. I really didn't want to be here.

**This story can currently go two ways. I have an idea of what I am planning. Let me know what you think.**


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